Typical mapping and navigation application (“apps”) and services today only focus on humans, ignoring other potential beneficiaries such as dogs. Such apps are meant to be first person experiences, managing your own location or your own social profile on a map. A 2011 survey by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) estimated that there are over 43 million households in the United States, or about 36.5% of total U.S. households, with at least one dog. In 2012, a study done by a consumer group estimated that 22% of the World's population, about one out of every five people, will own a smartphone by 2013.
These numbers, while seemingly unrelated, represent two great passions and trends in American and World culture. However, there is no current solution that allows social profiles and mapping services for dogs managed on their behalf by their owner/human. In addition, there are currently no apps or mapping programs that combine social profiles for dogs on a map with live location data or dog friendly points of interest used for meeting point determination. Current GPS and location technology is used with dogs only for lost and found tracking purposes. There needs to be a solution that allows the placement of dog social profiles based on location, on a map that can be managed on behalf of a dog by a human (their owner) that can also allow interaction between dog friendly points of interest and meetings and interactions between two or more dogs.
Also, typical current mapping solutions only provide single direction point navigation, such as one person to a single point of interest, or in some cases, one person to the location of another person, or between two cars. None of these systems have been applied in any way to dogs. In addition, although a mapping or navigation system may provide points of interest, there is often no way to determine whether that point of interest is dog friendly. There are currently no apps/services that enable near instantaneous in-person meetings between dogs and for dog owners to meet. It would be desirable to provide social profiles based on locations, which are also searchable by a set of traits, so that owners of dogs can potentially meet. The present disclosure provides these solutions.
As described more fully below, the present invention provides a mapping and social profile system which performs multiple functions in conjunction with a smartphone without sacrificing portability features, design, style or affordability.